Suspect appears after 12 long years

Nelson Hallahan could spend years in prison for fleeing Peoria 12 years ago just after he pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

Andy Kravetz

Nelson Hallahan could spend years in prison for fleeing Peoria 12 years ago just after he pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

Hallahan's "blind plea," or one without a written agreement, in U.S. District Court on Wednesday morning came about a week after his wife, Janet Hallahan, pleaded guilty to the same charge - failure to appear.

When asked by Senior U.S. District Judge Joe McDade what happened to cause him not to appear for a sentencing in mid-2000, Nelson Hallahan said in a calm but blunt way, "I decided I didn't want to be there that day."

Both Hallahans are scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 28 by McDade. They face up to 10 years in prison on the failure to appear conviction and possible up to 25 more years on the fraud charges. The sentences must run consecutively, so in theory, they could be sentenced to as much as 35 years in prison but that's unlikely because of their lack of criminal history.

Nelson Hallahan, 65, gave some indication of what his sentence might look like when he answered a question by McDade, indicating he believed his sentencing range on the failure to appear count would fall just under two years.

The two fled not long after they pleaded guilty and before a May 4, 2000, sentencing hearing on charges of conspiring to commit mail and bank fraud, as well as money laundering. They were arrested May 5 in Tonopah, a dusty community of less than 100 people that is 50 miles from Peoria, Ariz., a Phoenix suburb, after being on the run for 12 years.

There, Nelson Hallahan admitted, he went by the alias of Andrew Howard Wheeler.

The original charges accused them of scamming $1.7 million from about 70 people from 1993 until their arrest in 1999. Most of that money appears to be gone. The Hallahans convinced people to invest in Janet Hallahan's former tanning salon, Sunset Tans, promising double-digit returns.

Instead, it was a classic Ponzi scheme, where money from some investors paid off others as a way to keep the scam going. They claimed the money paid for additional tanning beds. No beds were bought, and they continued to solicit investors after they sold the salon.

Both Janet and Nelson Hallahan remain in custody of the U.S. marshals pending sentencing.

Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @andykravetz.